Following on from
Virtues of War and its tale of Earth’s brief war with its Centauri colonies,
Ghosts of War deals with the realities for those returning home, along with the
machinations of those who want to use the conflict’s aftermath for their own
agendas, and those who just want to be left alone. Just because the fighting
has stopped, for some of them it doesn’t mean the war is truly over.

While
Virtues was a fast-paced and action-heavy story driven largely by intense and
brutal combat sequences, Ghosts is a different beast entirely. Almost entirely
devoid of fighting, it places far greater focus on its central characters and
offers a different view of them with how they act in peacetime. Although it
becomes apparent there are some Coles actually likes more than others, each is
further fleshed out by their actions and reactions, while also emphasising the
vast spectrum of how people can be affected by combat, something that as a
military veteran himself would be well aware of.

To
gives things an alternative perspective is new character Kete, a Centauri spy
who offers a viewpoint of the war from the other side, his hatred of Earth an
all that it stands for becoming entirely understandable as his own story is
slowly revealed. In this regard the book builds on the stance of its
predecessor by not assuming that either side is wholly in the right, and just
as in any real-world conflict there are valid points to be made by each
antagonist.

A
problem with Virtues was that by the end its characters seemed largely
unchanged, despite the various ordeals each of them had survived. However, now
that everyone is back on Earth and the horrors they endured have truly sunk in,
it’s now that we see to what extent the conflict has affected each of them. Infantry
officer Katja in particular, having become emotionally crippled by PTSD and
suffering from nightmares and hallucinations, finds it most difficult
readjusting to civilian life, and with Kete’s thirst for vengeance targeting
her most of all, you start to wonder what chance she even has.

Both
an extended coda of Virtues of War and a set up for the doubtlessly
action-packed closing chapter of the trilogy, Ghosts of War deals with one of
the less considered realities of war. While the sci-fi trappings are all
present and correct – and built upon to further expand this future world – it’s
the people who drive it forwards, and they are each shown in their entirety, their
virtues and their flaws.